34. Erik #3
The list of injuries goes on longer than I want. Conference-center gravel. Blow to the head. Estate restraint. Van crash. Ranger-station fight. House restraint. Chokehold. Boat transfer. Surgical wing.
Serena makes brief notes on her phone between questions, stopping only when Rowan mentions the cramp. She puts the phone aside. "How long?"
"Less than a minute." Rowan lies back when Serena gestures toward the table.
"Any since?"
"No."
Serena palpates carefully across her abdomen while Rowan watches her face for clues. Then she reaches for the portable Doppler inside her bag. "I want ultrasound before we leave, but this'll give me something first."
I stop moving.
Rowan turns her head toward me while Serena applies gel. "Erik."
"I'm standing."
"You look like you're about to break the machine by concentrating on it."
Serena adjusts the Doppler probe without looking up. "He can concentrate quietly."
It takes longer than I expect.
Then the first heartbeat fills the room.
Fast.
Strong.
My stomach turns over as Serena shifts the probe and listens, then changes position again.
A second rhythm comes through.
Then the third.
I stare at the ceiling because looking at Rowan would be worse.
Her fingers find mine beside the table. I look down, and tears are running openly over her face now.
Serena listens a few seconds longer before switching off the Doppler. "All three are present. That isn't a complete assessment, and I still want imaging."
Rowan nods and wipes her cheek with her free hand.
I still don't trust myself to speak.
Serena cleans the gel from Rowan's abdomen, pulls her sweater back into place, then looks at me. "You can carry her to the helicopter."
Rowan pushes herself onto one elbow immediately. "I can walk."
"I know." Serena starts packing the Doppler and used supplies into separate compartments.
"I've been walking all day."
"That's part of the problem." Serena closes the bag and looks pointedly at Rowan's socked feet, then at me.
Rowan catches the direction of that look and points at me. "Don't."
I bend and lift her before she can finish. She hooks one arm around my neck by reflex, then glares at me from six inches away.
"Erik."
"Serena authorized it."
"She did not authorize kidnapping me from the examination table."
I adjust my hold to avoid her ribs. "I'm relocating you with medical supervision."
Serena zips her bag and lifts it from the table. "I'll allow the phrasing."
Rowan looks between us with clear disgust. "You're terrible."
I carry her into the corridor before she can attempt another appeal.
The clinic's different now. Makari's operators occupy every intersection, with one man photographing the nurses' station while another bags a weapon near the stairwell.
Two of Orell's men sit restrained against the lower wall under guard.
Medical personnel move past us with equipment for Rahil and one of our injured operators.
We pass the room where Orell died without looking inside.
Outside, dawn's started turning the sky gray over the water. The wind off the Sound is cold enough that Rowan presses closer to me, though apparently not cold enough to discourage the argument.
"You know I can walk." She looks toward the helipad as if calculating whether I might put her down before we reach it.
"Yes."
"I walked six miles yesterday."
"That argument isn't helping you." I step around a coil of equipment cable stretched across the pavement.
Rowan adjusts her arm around my neck. "It proves capacity."
"It proves poor judgment."
She pulls back enough to look offended. "You're criticizing my escape?"
"I'm criticizing your current attempt to escape my arms."
"That isn't the same escape." Her expression turns indignant enough that I know she's feeling marginally better.
"I'm aware."
Serena laughs behind us while following with her bag.
The helicopter waits with the rotors beginning to turn. Makari stands near the open door with his injured hand wrapped against his chest. Rowan spots the bandage immediately.
"What happened to you?"
"Rahil." Makari shifts aside so I can reach the cabin.
Rowan twists slightly in my arms to inspect him. "Did you win?"
Makari looks at her as if the question offends him personally. "Obviously."
She nods. "Good."
I carry her aboard. She complains until I set her into the seat, then stops while Serena secures her harness and arranges the medical bag where she can reach it during the flight. I take the seat beside Rowan and check her belt myself after Serena finishes.
Rowan notices but lets me.
The helicopter lifts several minutes later. The island falls away beneath us, first the clinic roof, then the dock, then the small line of buildings surrounded by water. Rowan leans toward the window just long enough to watch it shrink before settling back against the seat.
She keeps one hand inside mine.
I look down after a few minutes and realize my hand's shaking around hers. I try to stop it, but Rowan notices before I can.
For eleven weeks, she's watched me angry, shot, exhausted, jealous, furious, and afraid enough to become controlling. She's never seen this.
Rowan turns my hand over and links our fingers more firmly. She doesn't say anything, and neither do I.